What is Mercy?
O First enthroned of the Apostles
Teachers of the whole world
entreat the Master of all
to grant peace to the world
and great mercy to our souls.
English, once again poses a big problem for our understanding of what mercy is. Think about what comes to mind when you consider the meaning of the word. If you are like me, you see mercy in legal terms: someone is wronged and yet does not seek vengence or for that matter, justice - offering instead forgiveness. We "throw ourselves on the mercy of the court."
Mercy comes from the Greek word eleison which is of the same root as elaion which means olive and olive oil. In the Middles East (both today and in ancient times) Olive Oil is used in many ways as a healing oinment. It is a sort of herbal medicine. And when we bring this to the term Mercy we see that it holds within itself a medicinal and healing aspect, which is quite contrary to our legal understanding of the word. And so, when we pray (as we often do in the Orthodox tradition), "Lord have Mercy", we are beseeching God to bring healing to our souls - literally to have "healing oil" on us. Imagine for a moment how this fits with the sacramental practice of annointing with oil and the Eastern understanding of sin and salvation.
The original sinner's prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on me, a sinner.
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